Radio Diaries The Story of Jane

Before the U.S. Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade, abortion was illegal throughout most of the country. But that doesn’t mean women didn’t get them.

In 1965, an underground network was formed in Chicago to help pregnant women get abortions. At first, they connected women with doctors willing to break the law to perform the procedure. Eventually, they were trained and began performing abortions themselves. The group called itself “Jane.” Over the years, Jane performed more than 11,000 first and second-trimester abortions.

This story first aired in 2018 on All Things Considered. For more info check out Leslie Reagan’s book When Abortion Was a Crime and Laura Kaplan’s, The Story of Jane. Banner image: (From left) Martha Scott, Jeanne Galatzer-Levy, Abby Parisers, Sheila Smith and Madeline Schwenk were among the seven members of Jane arrested in 1972.

The transcript for this episode is available here in English.

The Girls of the Leesburg Stockade

In July 1963, a group of young Black girls were arrested while protesting in Americus, Georgia. They were jailed at a stockade for more than 45 days, their families had no idea where they were. This is that story.

Listen